Results 1 to 15 of 15

Thread: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

  1. #1
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    534

    Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    I'll start with the fronts

    1) Jack Car Up lol
    2) Remove Wheels
    3) Take a 21mm socket/wrench/impact and remove the strut to spindle bolt/nut combo. Take note that the bottom one has an oblonged bolt head for alignment purposes
    4) Unbolt 3 13mm bolts on the top of the strut mount
    5) Remove strut/spring assembly
    6) Use either spring compressors or a vice, the springs are compressed but not that much so I just used a vice but I've done it before and know exactly what to expect so you might want to use a spring compressor.
    7) Use a 21mm impact on the top strut nut and disassemble the strut spring setup
    8) put the strut in a vice and take a cut off wheel to the little dust plate that is on the top of the strut, it is held on by 3 little tabs that need to be ground off
    9) While you have the cut off wheel out cut off the spring perch. You don't "really" need to perform this step but you'll get added tire clearance if you do and it cleans up the install. To cut it off make about 8 straight cuts in the shape of an octogon and it'll come off pretty easy. Also you'll have to grind through the one that secures itself on the side of the strut
    10) Now switch to a grinding stone and grind off the tabs on the top of the strut and grind the spring seat nice and neat
    11) Take your sleeved perch and see if it fits snuggly on the strut and will slide down, if it won't slide down, push it on and place it in a vice and use a rubber mallet to pound that strut into sleeve.
    12) Install the spring onto the sleeve, make sure that it is set at pretty much the highest height on the sleeve because it's easier to lower the perch than to raise it.
    13) Reinstall the upper spring seat and strut bearing.
    14) Reinstall the strut and do up the 13 mm nuts on the strut bearing
    15) Now now for the "alignment" part lol. First put in the upper bolt and get the lower bolt in, now push on the upper part of the spindle and turn the oblonged part so the fat part of it is pushing on the car side of the strut piece(once you see it you'll know what i'm talking about) and the little notch is directly in the center. This will get you a "Good enough" alignement. This is how I've always done them on my lowered turbo dodges and it's usually good enough, you'll be able to visually see if it's out terribly
    16) Crank down on the upper bolt/nut first, then tighten the lower one
    17) Repeat the process on the other side of the car, then lower the car down and set your ride height

    For the Rear

    1) Jack Car up and support by body not rear axle
    2) Remove wheels
    3) Place jack under axle and support some weight with it(in the center)
    4) Take 15mm socket and undo lower shock bolts
    5) Lower the rear axle down and remove springs
    6) As illustrated by my pictures Grind the lip off the upper spring seat thinger, you'll have to grind it right down to the shaft(LOL at the shaft...)
    7) Now for the the "Tricky" part, not all coilovers come with the part that I used here but you can improvise really easy. What I did and you can do if your coilovers came with helper springs( I also have 2 more sets of them for 15 bucks shipped if anyone is interested) is take a 2.5 inch hole saw and just drill out a hole in the bottom of the rear spring perch in as close to the middle as possible. If you don't have the spacer perch thinger what you can do is just take a piece of 2.5 inch exhaust a 1 inche piece outta do it and weld it on so the spring has something to sit on. HOWEVER before you do that, drill two holes inside where you are going to weld that pipe so you can secure the spring to rear perch with some hose clamps (if you got short springs like I did shouldn't be an issue on longer springs but better safe that sorry... You'd have to get 8 inches of clearance between the tire and fender lip for it to unload... but just in case)
    8) Now thread the coil over perch all the way to the top and put it over the shaft thinger, place the spring over your lower mount, then fit it onto the sleeve
    9) Put the Wheels back on
    10) Jack the car off the jackstands

    Good to go


    How the front struts look


    How I solved the dilema in the back because of there just being a spring and not a spring and strut. What I did was drilled a 2.5inch hole in the spring mounting perch and my coil overs came with a guide so I set the guide in the hole and it allowed the spring to sit on the lower perch. What I did for the threaded collar part was to grind the lip off of the upper spring guide slide the collar on. I will take more detailed pictures later

    Just a view from the back so you can see how the spring sits

    This is the Front Strut Completely Assembled

    This it on the car

    This is how I modded the back, you can see where I ground it down there is a lip there you gotta take off so the sleeve will slide on

    You can see how I drilled a hole with a hole swap in the bottom of the rear spring perch to mount this (picture below)

  2. #2
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Tulsa, Oklahoma
    Posts
    669

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    i was looking into this mod for my P-body, which coilover kit did you get? i know there are some cheap ones on ebay....(college budget so cant afford a $200+ coilover kit etc) also, what were the spring rates? stiffer than stock? i have some other front suspension work like poly sway bar bushings and soon new ball joints, tie-rod ends, and A-arm bushings

    p.s. anyone know what the stock spring rate is on a 3.0 P-body?

  3. #3
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Earth
    Posts
    287

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    Ok, I am sure this has come up before but what are the advantages of the coil over setup?

    Currently running Koni struts/shocks w/Eibach springs and a rear swaybar (front one this year)

    Is there a *real* advantage?


    Just curious

    Tks!

    --------------
    Mike

    90 Shadow VNT
    90 Shadow 2.5 T-I


    http://fwdperformancestinks.blogspot.com/

  4. #4
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Tulsa, Oklahoma
    Posts
    669

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    i believe one of the advantages lies in ajustable ride height, and stiffer spring rates. a lower CG means better cornering and the stifer springs will help with rear squat and nose dive on acceleration and braking. Also on side to side and front/rear weight shift in hard cornering. those are some of the reasons i want to do a coilover setup on my shadow

  5. #5
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    534

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    The real advantage is being to change your spring rates cheaply and easily by just swapping out springs you have much more options when using generic coilovers as apposed to our stock setup. The 2nd advantage is the fact of adjusting the ride height to help with corner weighting and tailoring the ride height to your needs.

    The kit I used is a generic ebay kit, they are all 100% the same the only difference is some using locking perch and the others use a dual perch setup to lock the upper perch in place for ride height adjusting. For all the people that have pm'd me they are all 100% the same I have seen 8 different ebay kits and they were all 100% the same minus color/boxes/perches. The springs rates I have are 350 front and 450 rear.

    the stock 3.0 shadow rates, if they are a basemodel are 110, ES was 135

  6. #6
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Tulsa, Oklahoma
    Posts
    669

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    thanks, i think ill be prowling ebay in the near future, this seems a lot more economical than the eibachs, still probably should get some Konis or KYBs te replace the Munro crap-a-tracs though

  7. #7
    turbo addict
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Spokane, Wa
    Posts
    9,046

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    The Eibachs are perfect for ride height/suspension geometry. Any lower and you're starting to really screw things up. Yes a nice low CG is nice but you have to take into account the Roll center and roll couple. The advantage on coil-overs on our cars is corner weighting and being able to swap spring rates easily although I think the Eibachs are about perfect.

    Don't even think about running monroe Crap a tracs with any upgraded springs. I know they didn't control my stock springs or the stock or eibach springs on a buddies daytona. They are position sensitive and don't get stiff till they're at the limits of travel. Other shocks are speed sesitive. i.e. the level of stiffness depends on the speed they move at.

  8. #8
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Tulsa, Oklahoma
    Posts
    669

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    what i was really getting at was that IIRC the eibachs were only stock or mildly stiffer spring rates. i agree totally that the munroes are pieces of $hite as i can tell they arnt doing their jobs up front. Also i know that any more than a 1-2" drop changes your geometry and especially starts to mess with the front end alignment, bump steer, toe in/out, camber etc. was able to pick up a racing suspension book at the school bookstore this year for some reading, quite enlightening i must say. stiffer springs i think will help me out in that the 24v 3.0 i bet is a tad bit more weighty than the 12v, and id like to improve some of the dynamic weight shifting. good points though, moderation is a good thing

  9. #9
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Phoenix Metro, AZ
    Posts
    983

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    Quote Originally Posted by Garret View Post
    The kit I used is a generic ebay kit, they are all 100% the same the only difference is some using locking perch and the others use a dual perch setup to lock the upper perch in place for ride height adjusting. The springs rates I have are 350 front and 450 rear.
    What is the difference in the 2 perches? Is one better than the other? Also, since all the kits are the same, are the spring rates the same too between the different kits?

    Thanks
    Gary

  10. #10
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    534

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    The two locking perches are some times a PITA to adjust where as the single one is a little bit easier to adjust. 90% of the kits all have the same 350/450 spring rate kits

  11. #11

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    i wouldn't do much hardcore driving or track/road racing with those "generic" ebay kits. that $40 Tercel coilover kit, or whatever it is, is probably just that, CHEAP!! i know i wouldn't trust the handling & reliability of a cheapo kit like that if i planned any sort of "spirited" driving. if you just want to lower the car and look cool, i think they are fine. but think about it... put on a $100 or less FULL coilover kit and then expect it to hold up to extreme driving?? just think about it first. that's all. there's a reason the good kits cost more.

  12. #12
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    534

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    the Good kits I have seen, IE Ground control are 100% the same, just come with springs actually designed for that exact car. It's the same aluminium threaded collar

  13. #13
    Super Moderator Turbo Mopar Staff contraption22's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Havertown, PA
    Posts
    9,517

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    That kit looks EXACTLY like the ones i purchased from ground control that cost $100/corner.
    Mike Marra
    1986 Plymouth Horizon GLMF "The Contraption" < entertaining sponsorship offers
    Project Log:
    http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?69708-The-Contraption-2013-14&highlight=

  14. #14

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    looks can be deceiving. i only mention is becuase its just something to think about. but hey, it's not my car. do what you want.

  15. #15
    Hybrid booster
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    534

    Re: Coil Over Install How To(Mods move to How To Section)

    Trust me they are as close as one can be to being 100% the same, spring rates are the only thing that differs

Similar Threads

  1. Ignition coil questions
    By Clay in forum Electrical & Fuel System
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 05-29-2008, 04:24 AM
  2. Won't start after converting to newer style coil
    By xdig in forum "I need help!"
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 03-23-2008, 04:37 PM
  3. shifting problems
    By "Top Fuel" Bender in forum Cummins Turbo Diesel
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 04-17-2007, 08:23 PM
  4. Coil Over Install
    By Garret in forum Fabrication
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 12-15-2006, 06:03 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •